Reporter's Notebook

Buttoning Up

The national political conventions are a time for delegates and other
partisans to wear their politics on their sleeves-or on their lapels
and shirts. So political buttons are in demand among educators at the
Democrats' gathering here.

At the Sheraton Boston hotel on Sunday, July 25, a large
political-memorabilia booth was set up outside the ballroom where the
National Education Association was holding its caucus for delegates to
the Democratic National Convention.

There were all manner of buttons, such as "NEA Supports
Kerry-Edwards," "AFT [American Federation of Teachers] Supports John
Kerry," and "Teachers for Kerry-Edwards."

At the Sheraton, which is home to the labor-friendly Ohio
delegation, the booth also offered these buttons:

One button at the booth alludes to an education topic that has
gotten much attention in politics, especially from the NEA: the federal
No Child Left Behind Act. The ambitious, bipartisan
school-accountability measure is a top accomplishment of President
Bush, but the NEA has lashed out against it for its sanctions on
schools deemed in need of improvement and for what the union says is
the administration's failure to fully fund it.

The button says "Leave No Child a Dime," with a picture of a 10-cent
piece.

Just what message the button was trying to convey about the No Child
Left Behind law or any other federal policy was a source for puzzlement
among some who looked it over.

Princess Moss, a teacher from Louisa, Va., and the incoming
president of the Virginia Education Association, said, "My
interpretation is that No Child Left Behind is mandated, but there's no
funding for it."

Others weren't so sure, with one visitor saying she thought "Leave
No Child a Dime" probably referred to what she viewed as the Republican
administration's failure to deal with the problems of the Social
Security system.

Ms. Moss said she has also seen a button that says "Leave No Child
Untested," a reference to the major increase in assessment brought
about by the law.

After carefully picking through the several hundred button choices
at the booth, she passed up the "Leave No Child a Dime" one and others
for a button with a W and a red slash symbol across it. That button's
message was unmistakable.

All in the Family

Kelly McMahon, a kindergarten teacher from Milwaukee, Wis., was
pretty busy over her winter break this past school year. Like many
people, she headed home for the holidays, to Iowa.

But she didn't exactly kick back for two weeks. The 25-year-old
volunteered for the John Edwards for President campaign, knocking on
doors and working phone banks in her home state.

Of course, things didn't exactly work out as she had hoped for the
North Carolina senator. He finished second in the Iowa caucuses before
eventually dropping out of the race.

"I was disappointed," she said. "However, I'm very glad that John
Kerry put him on the ticket."

Asked why she volunteered for Mr. Edwards, she said: "The number one
reason was he's such a strong believer in public education."

Not surprisingly, this week she's most looking forward to John
Edwards' speech the evening of July 28, the third night of the
convention.

"He's so optimistic and positive," she said. "I really like
that."

Ms. McMahon is a first-time delegate, and is also the first one in
her family. Ms. McMahon is the 13th of 14 children. Five of them are
teachers and two others hold teaching degrees.

Besides returning for her third year of teaching this fall and
attending graduate school part time, she'll be helping out the
Kerry-Edwards campaign, though she admits that she'd rather the ticket
were flipped.

Meanwhile, she'll also carve out some time for another campaign,
back in Iowa.

"My brother Mike, who is a teacher ... is running for a state
representative seat," she said.

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